Garlic and fresh herbs-crusted slow roasted pork shoulder with pomegranate and grape molasses glaze

Delicious Wintertime comfort food for a special Sunday meal! The shoulder is one of the most tasty and tender parts of the pork anyway but in this recipe, as it is slowly cooked, it absorbs the sweet and sour glaze and ends up so luscious and moist!

Recipe of Myrssini Lambraki,
a prominent Head Cook and food author

from a recipe leaflet of the Greek supermarket "AB Vassilopoulos"

Ingredients for (6 people)

For the meat:
1 pork shoulder, kept whole (about 2-3 Kg)

6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh thyme, finely chopped
salt
pepper

For the glaze:
1 tea-cup of pomegranate juice

1 tea-cup of grape molasses

1 small lemon, the juice

1 pinch of ground cinnamon

1 tbsp of apple cider

1 pinch of ground nutmeg

1 pinch of ground cumin

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan function.

Mix in a small bowl the garlic with the rosemary, the thyme, plenty of salt and pepper and spread this mixture on the inner side of the shoulder.

Put the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes until they are reduced into a thick sauce. Take off the heat and keep aside.

Fill an oven pan with some water and place on top a metal rack. Place the pork on the rack with the crusted side facing down.

Put in the middle shelf of the oven, turn the temperature down to 180°C and initially cook for 40-45 minutes.

When the times passes, baste the pork with some of the glaze using a small brush. ***This procedure should be repeated every 15 minutes for at least 30-45 minutes.

Take the meat out of the oven, wrap it with some aluminium foil and place in a clean oven pan. Put back in the oven and cook, at 150°C this time, for another 20-25 minutes.

Unwrap the foil and baste the meat twice with a generous layer of the glaze. Switch on the oven grill at the highest temperature and continue cooking until the meat is nicely browned with a crispy crust formed on top.

Take out of the oven and transfer on a chopping board, allowing the meat to rest for 20 minutes before you slice and transfer on a serving platter.

Serve immediately with the remaining glaze served separately and accompany the pork with mashed potatoes or rice pilaf and steamed vegetables.